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MDPaddlersPod
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Jul 2016
Location: Maryland
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Posts: 135
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Topic: Opinion Please Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 11:06am |
I would really appreciate peoples experience with dealer warranty service. I have a 179 and am on my second year with the extended factory warranty. At the end of season (October) I told my dealer I would like to schedule some warranty work; water leak behind bathroom sink, water heater not working on propane, and a leaking outside shower assy. I was told they would get back with me in a week to make an appointment, didn't happen. I went to the dealer and was told there were 10 customers ahead of me and they would get to me in order. They said they would make sure I was ready to go before the season begins. Well here we are in January and no word. My warranty expires in June, I am concerned. I am not sure what the norm is for wait time for camper repairs but, this seems excessive. I can get my car repaired in a couple of days, I would not expect to wait months to get my camper repaired. I would really appreciate advise and how long these things should take. I don't want to attack my dealer and establish a bad raport. Help.
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MDPaddlersPod
2017 RPod 179
2002 Silverado1500
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Leo B
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Location: Lyndonville, VT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4517
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 11:25am |
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Leo & Melissa Bachand
2017 Ford F150
2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk
Previously owned
2015 Rpod 179
2010 Rpod 171
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Leo B
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Location: Lyndonville, VT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4517
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 11:28am |
We have had warranty work done in the past, usually had an appointment within a week or two and work was done quickly. usually on the day we dropped it, only had to leave it overnight once. We have a pretty good rapport with the service manager.
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Leo & Melissa Bachand
2017 Ford F150
2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk
Previously owned
2015 Rpod 179
2010 Rpod 171
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furpod
Moderator Group - pHp
Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6128
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 12:26pm |
I won't get deep into how RV repair works at the dealer level. But, a quick note on how the business works.
From April until September, a dealer can't have enough people. From October until March, he can't have enough work.
So, in the off season, techs get let go. Staff is reduced. It takes longer to get anything done. The worst part is, it's hard to keep GOOD techs, because they need to work all year.. just like anyone else.
As far as when your warranty runs out. If the issue is logged, as yours is, before the warranty runs out, it will be covered.
Having people "ahead of you" for service is normal.
The reason a car dealer can always turn you around faster is, their service staff stays busy all year.
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CharlieM
Senior Member
Joined: 23 Nov 2012
Location: N. Colorado
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1797
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 12:55pm |
Originally posted by MDPaddlersPod
I would really appreciate peoples experience with dealer warranty service. I have a 179 and am on my second year with the extended factory warranty. At the end of season (October) I told my dealer I would like to schedule some warranty work; water leak behind bathroom sink, water heater not working on propane, and a leaking outside shower assy. I was told they would get back with me in a week to make an appointment, didn't happen. I went to the dealer and was told there were 10 customers ahead of me and they would get to me in order. They said they would make sure I was ready to go before the season begins. Well here we are in January and no word. My warranty expires in June, I am concerned. I am not sure what the norm is for wait time for camper repairs but, this seems excessive. I can get my car repaired in a couple of days, I would not expect to wait months to get my camper repaired. I would really appreciate advise and how long these things should take. I don't want to attack my dealer and establish a bad raport. Help. | Charlie's second law of thermodynamics the world: "Incompetence is not hard to find. It's everywhere". That said I would keep bugging them. Their promises to call you back often get dumped in the bucket or they leave with the personnel on Friday afternoon. If they get annoyed you probably don't want them working on you camper anyway. Attitudes vary greatly with the shop. Some are in business to keep you happy; some are in business to keep themselves happy.
Charlie's first law? "There's no such thing as too much garlic".
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Charlie
Northern Colorado
OLD: 2013 RP-172, 2010 Honda Pilot 3.5L 4WD
PRESENT: 2014 Camplite 21RBS, 2013 Supercharged Tacoma 4L V6 4WD
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TheBum
Senior Member
Joined: 26 Feb 2016
Location: Texas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1407
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 1:48pm |
I would think that any work for which an appointment is made before the end of the warranty would still be covered under warranty even if the work wasn't done until after expiration. You should be able to get something in writing from the dealership for evidence.
We are very fortunate to have the service manager that we do. Even if there are RVs ahead of us, he will make the best use of the time when work on those RVs is paused for whatever reason to deal with other RVs.
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Alan
2022 R-Pod 196 "RaptoRPod"
2022 Ram 1500 Lone Star 4x4
Three cats
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Leo B
podders Helping podders - pHp
Joined: 13 Jan 2012
Location: Lyndonville, VT
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 4517
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 1:48pm |
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Leo & Melissa Bachand
2017 Ford F150
2021 Vista Cruiser 19 csk
Previously owned
2015 Rpod 179
2010 Rpod 171
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MDPaddlersPod
Senior Member
Joined: 06 Jul 2016
Location: Maryland
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 135
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 2:29pm |
Thanks guys, I will try to remain patient but, check in more often. I really don't want to piss them off, that wouldn't be a fun relationship.
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MDPaddlersPod
2017 RPod 179
2002 Silverado1500
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ParPod
Senior Member
Joined: 28 Oct 2016
Location: Manitoba
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 105
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 4:27pm |
Don't be too patient. We went through almost the same thing. Unit went in for warranty work as we were coming to the end of the warranty period. Nothing really serious....just a bunch of little stuff. We phoned and phoned and phoned some more. There was always at least 3 units ahead of us, or the Techs had an off site repair to do....more units ahead of us. We thought this was one of the better dealers in town but I suspect that warranty work hits the bottom of every pile. Units that customers are paying for automatically go to the front of the line. Once the warranty expires then good luck trying to get anything done then.....the conversation with the Service Dept was almost like a session of "Who's on first" k You have lots of time but I wouldn't give them too much slack.
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Bob&Margaret
2017 179
2016 Toyota 4Runner
2 sets of Golf Clubs
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Richand Cindy
Senior Member
Joined: 16 Apr 2016
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 328
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Posted: 25 Jan 2018 at 5:12pm |
With RV's (especially Forest River) the dealer is like the final assembly line worker. So whenever new RV's arrive they need to be gone over and require several hours of repair work. And they take priority. Then the larger units Motorhomes (over six figures) go next. The lowly sub $20,000 RPOD is dead last on the list. Lastly the walk throughs are usually done by the same people doing the repairs so that also takes priority. So that is why it can take weeks (our dealer is 3 week wait), a dealer where we did not buy takes forever. So be patient try to get a appointment in writing through email then you can document when it was promised and more importantly prove to FR the problem was reported BEFORE warranty expired
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OLD 2017.5 RPOD 180 + 2015 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
NEW: 2018 Passport Elite 23RB + 2017 Ram 1500 Diesel
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